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"FRIEND OF YOUTH"

WHO WE ARE

The motto of the Optimist Club of Fort Worth, and its parent organization, Optimist International, is “Friend of Youth”. The Optimist Club of Fort Worth focuses on the youth of Fort Worth. We offer major scholarships to seniors in the Fort Worth ISD, with finalists from all Fort Worth ISD high schools. We conduct a recognition program, our Young Texan/Texanne program, that recognizes outstanding juniors from each Fort Worth high school. During Youth Appreciation Week, we recognize class leaders from each Fort Worth ISD high school at a noon luncheon. We also conduct an essay contest that attracted 425 entries last year, with substantial scholarship awards to the winners.

WHAT WE DO

The Club also operates athletic leagues for approximately 1400 children from ages 6 to 14. These include a PONY League baseball program, with three age groups, offered in conjunction with the Optimist Club of Arlington and the Fort Worth YMCA, and Pony League teams for 13-14 year olds. Our Junior Optimist Club program serves 14 elementary schools for primarily underserved youth in the Southside, Northside, and Eastside of Fort Worth. The Junior Optimist Clubs provide afterschool athletic activities, including football. soccer, and girls’ softball. At the end of the school year, Outstanding Junior Optimists from each of the 14 elementary schools are recognized at a luncheon.

The Club holds weekly membership lunch meetings to enhance member fellowship and to educate members about numerous activities in the local community. Each meeting includes an interesting speaker with expertise in a particular area, as well as announcements about club activities. We also present the awards to our scholarship and recognition program winners, with their families and academic advisors in attendance.

Our major fundraising activity is our Christmas tree sale at Farrington Field, a Fort Worth ISD football stadium, located at the corner of Lancaster and University.